“Second and third sets were really good,” said Djokovic, who will next face Steve Darcis. “I thought I found my rhythm. First set was up and down. But I’ll take the positives out of it, and I’m hoping I can progress as the tournament goes on.”

A shocker that has not yet come to conclusion is 37-year-old qualifier Radek “The Worm” Stepanek leading No. 2 seed Andy Murray 6-3, 6-3, 0-6, 2-4, when the match was called due to darkness. The delay will give hope to Stepanek, who had run out of gas on Monday after his quick start.

Notes: All 16 seeds receive opening-round byes in the 48-player draw…Dolgopolov has not won a match at Hamburg in three attempts, and fellow seeds Youzhny, Kohlschreiber, Granollers and Giraldo also have losing records in the ‘burg…Tough potential starts for (16) Seppi vs. Monaco, (4) Dolgopolov vs. Janowicz, (7) Kohlschreiber vs. Montanes, and (14) Sousa vs. Rosol…107th edition of the event…

“I was confident, but not silly confident, but respectful confident towards the opponent,” Federer said. “I just felt I was playing such great tennis the last six months that I would find a way as well and I did. It’s a relief but it was a great feeling.”

Tough starts go to (1) Gasquet vs. either Baghdatis or Evgeny Donskoy, (5) Istomin vs. Russian (WC) Andrey Kuznetsov, and (7) Sousa vs. Stakhovsky…Seeds making their debuts at the event are Gasquet, Sousa and Mannarino…Russians have won the event 14 times since 1990…Last year Seppi beat Thomaz Bellucci in the final…Notable pulls from the event were Nikolay Davydenko (wrist) and Stan Wawrinka…Returning former champs in the field are Seppi (2012) and Tipsarevic (2011).